Door and hatch closure



Nov. 14, 1939. A. B. COURT r-:r AL 2.179.495

DOOR AND HATCH CLOSURE Filed Dec. 29, 1938 4 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ALVA B.CouRT, Geoms H. COPEN HAVER,

JOHN FLODIN,

INVENTORS.

ATTORNEY NOV. 14, 1939. A B, (:QURT ET AL 2.179.495

noon AND amen CLOSURE.

Filed Dec. 29, 1938 4 Shets-Sheet 2 l 3/ 36 z I ALVA BCOURT, GEORGE H.GoPENHA-vER, dorm FLomN,

lNVENTORS.

ATTORNEY Nov. 14, 1939. cou -r r AL 2,179,495

DOOR AND HATCH CLOSURE Filed Dec. 29, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 ALVA B.CouRT, GEORGE H.60PEN HAVER,

dorm FLOD\N,

INVENTORS.

W15 ATTORNEY Nov. 14, 1939. A. B. COURT ET AL DOOR AND HATCH CLOSUREFiled Dec. 29, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ALVA B. CDURT GEORGE H. COPI-NHAVERJOHN FLODIN INVENTORS /%4441 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 14, 1939 PATENTorrlcs DOOR AND HATCH CLOSURE Alva B. Court, United States Navy, GeorgeH. Copenhaver, Montclair, N. 1., and John Flodln,

Washington, D. 0.

Application December 29, 1938, Serial No. 248,270

2Claims.

(Granted under the m of March 3, 1883, as amended April so, 192s; 310 o.G. 757) This invention relates to a door or hatch closure, and has foran object to provide an improved door or hatch closure especiallyintended for use on fluid-tight doors and hatches such as are used inships and submarines.

A further object of this invention is to provide a door or hatch closurewhich is hydraulically operated and serves to apply uniform pressureabout the entire edge of the door or hatch and hold it in fluid-tightposition.

A further object of this invention is to provide a door or hatch closureincluding dogging means which is uniform and self-adjusting about theentire periphery of the door or hatch.

A further object of this invention is to provide a door or hatch closurewherein each dog has an auxiliary hand control.

A further object of this invention is to provide a door or hatch closurewherein substantially w the entire weight of the closure and thehydraulic operating mechanism is carried by the bulkhead or deck and notby the door or hatch, thus reducing the weight to be handled in openingor closing the door or hatch.

A further object of this invention is to provide a gear pump that isextremely compact in size for providing the hydraulic pressure foroperating the dogs of the door or hatch closure of this invention toeither cover releasing or closing position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a compact pressureproducing pump which may be mounted in the plane of a bulkhead wall ordeck and operated in an identical manner from '5 either side thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide a hydraulicallyoperated means of rotating a door or hatch from the open to the closedposition and vice versa.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe construction, combination and. arrangement of parts hereinafterdescribed and illustrated in the drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a fragment of a bulkhead having a doorto which the door closure of this invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partly sectional view of the dog op-' erating cylinder andthe dog rack for the rotary type of dogging means.

Fig. 4 is a partly sectional view through the gear pump of thisinvention.

Fig. 5 is a partly broken away elevational view a of the gear pump fromthe left side Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a full elevatlonal view of the gear pump from the right sideof Fig. 4.

Fig. '7 is a partly sectional view of the rotary type dog operatingmechanism on a larger scale than in Fig. 2. 5

Fig. 8 shows the door frame and cylinder support.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the dog and operatingcylinder.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the fluid expansion 10 cylinder.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view of the reciprocating type of doggingmechanism as applied to a hatch or door cover.

Fig. 12 is a partly sectional end view of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a partly broken away diagonal view of the door or hatchclosing mechanism as applied to the hinge of the door or hatch.

Fig. 14 is a partly sectional end view of Fig. 13 looking from the upperright hand end downward towards the left; and

Fig. 15 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a six-ported valve for usein applying hydraulic pressure selectively to the door or hatch closingand dogging'mechanisms. 25

There is shown at ill a bulkhead of the type in common use in ships andsubmarines having a door frame II, to which is hinged a door 12 in anyconventional manner. The door i2 is provided along its periphery with astiffening bar i3 cooperating with a flanged edge I4 of the door forholding a packing member I5 therein by suitable securing beads l6.Between the beads Hi the packing member is exposed for contact with aknife-edge I! on the door frame ll, so that when the door I2 is urgedagainst the door frame II a water-tight connection is obtained betweenthe packing member l5 and the door frame knife-edge l'l.

In order to urge this door l2 into such watertight position, anarc-shaped wedge l8 mounted on door I2 is provided for engagement with aprojection on dog handle i9, which handle 19 is provided with a stem 20journalled through a bearing 2| extending through the door frame ll. 45The stem 20 is provided with a reduced neck 22, non-circular in shape,to receive a complementary shaped hub 23 of a handle 24 keyed thereon,the handle 24 being located on the opposite side of the bulkhead fromthe handle l9, so that 50 operation of either handle 24 or handle l9will cause the projection on handle l9 to engage or disengage wedge l8.The hub 23 of handle 24 is provided with a tooth gear sector 25 which,in turn, meshes with a rack 26 slidable within a 65 trackway 21, wherebylinear movement of rack 26 provides rotatlve movement of gear sector 25to rotate the reduced neck 23, stem 26, and thus operate dog handle I 9.

The rack 26 has a connecting rod 28 extending therefrom through apacking gland 29 and into a cylinder 36, through piston 3|, andterminating within or beyond a second packing gland 32, therebyobtaining equal effective area on both sides of the piston. The cylinder30 is provided with a cylinder chamber 33 on one side of the piston 3|connected to a conduit 34, and with a cylinder chamber 35 on the otherside thereof connected to a conduit 36. As is obvious, causing apressure to flow through one of .the conduits into its cylinder chamberon one side of piston 3| and permitting it to flow out of the cylinderchamber on the other side of the piston through the other conduit willmove the piston in one direction, and with it simultaneously move therack 26 to operate the dog handle l9 to engage wedge l8 and thereby urgedoor l2 into water-tight contact with knife-edge H of frame Conduit 34is connected by a T-joint to a pressure line 31 and the other conduit 36is similarly connected to another pressure line 38. The pressure lines31 and 38 are each connected to opposite sides of a pressure pump 40,mounted through the bulkhead I8. A by-pass valve 4| connects the line 31to the line 38 so that the pump may be by-passed if desired to permitmanual operation or adjustment of the dog handles l9 and 24.

As will be apparent from Fig; 1, as many dogs, handles and operatingcylinders may be provided as desirable, each one individually joined toboth lines 31 and 38, so that all of the dogs will be simultaneouslyoperated to either door closing or door releasing position when pressureis applied through one or the other of the pressure lines 31 and 38 bymeans of the pump 40. The pump 40, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6,includes a housing 42 and a cover plate 43 secured thereto by bolts 44,the pump itself being secured in position by bolts 45.

Within the pump 40 in a chamber 46 formed by the housing 42 and theplate 43 there are provided a pair of meshed gears 41 and 48, thechamber 46 being of such a size that the gears 41 and 48 substantiallyfill the ends thereof.

The pressure lines 31 and 38 enter into the chamber 46 through theopposite sides' thereof along a line extending substantially through theintermeshed teeth of the gears 41 and 48. Each gear 41 and 48 isprovided with a shaft 58 keyed therein as at 5|, and extending through apacking gland 52 and ending in a squared end 53 for receiving acomplementary shaped hub 54 of a crank handle 55. These shafts 50 eachextend from opposite sides of the pump 48, whereby one crank handle 55is on one side of bulkhead l and the other crank handle is on theopposite side of bulkhead l0.

As a result thereof, a person operating either crank handle in aclockwise direction will cause fluid 58 to be pumped from pressure line31 through the pump and pressure line 38 to move the dog handles |9 todoor closing position. Operating either crank handle 55 in the oppositeor counter-clockwise direction will pump the fluid 58 from line 38through line 31 and move the dog handles to door releasing position.Eachpressure line 31 and 38 may be provided with an expansion cylinder56 connected thereto, partly filled with the pressure fluid 58 andpartly with air or gas under pressure held therein by a plug 51.

In operation, the door may be closed or released i'rom either side ofthe bulkhead by a suitable operation of either crank handle 55. By usingthe by-pass 4| the dogs and their handles may be released for individualoperation, if desired, or the handles when so released may be adjusted,if necessary, relative to each other so that all of the dogs may beoperated simultaneously by operation of the gear pump 40 and itsoperating crank handles 55, thus insuring a water-tight closingoperation of the door from either side thereof, at the same time makingit easy to release the door from such water-tight closed position foropening in the usual manner.

There is shown at 59 in Figs. 11 and 12 a hatch cover of the type incommon use in ships generally similar to the door construction shown inFig. 2. Angular stiffener I3 is associated with the edge of the cover 59to retain the gasket for engagement'with the knife-edge of the hatchcoaming 60 to form a tight joint.

A cylinder 36 having oil chambers 33 and 35, and piston 3|, similar tothat shown in Fig. 3, is shown in Fig. 11 mounted on the hatch coaming60 in combination with piston rod 62. Rod 62 is connected to or integralwith dog pin 63 so that the reciprocating motion of the piston under theinfluence of the operation of the pump, or of the selective introductionof fluid under pressure as will be described later, will causereciprocation of dog pin 63 in bearing 64, which is mounted on the hatchcoaming 60, the reciprocation causing pin 63 to engage or disengage doglug 66, mounted on the hatch cover 59.

- As will be seen in Fig. 11, the under side of dog pin 63 is tapered toproduce a wedging action as it enters dog lug 66 and the dog pin is heldagainst non-axial displacement by the length of the bearing provided bythe bushing 65 in bearing 64. The bushing 61 is provided in lug 66 toreduce friction and to permit ready replacement in event of wear.

There is shown in Fig. 13 and Fig. 14, a cylinder 82 having piston 8|and end bearing glands 83 generally similar to the cylinder shown inFig. 3. Cylinder 82 is mounted on the door frame I in such a positionthat the reciprocation of its piston causes the door to open or close bymeans of the connected piston rod 68, which rod is connectedto travelinglug 61, said lug having extensions 84 which move reciprocally in housing10. Lug 61 moves in housing slot 92 and engages curved groove 13 inhinge member 1|. The housing with the cylinder 82 and the fixed hingemembers and 16 being mount ed on the door frame II, and the rotatinghinge member 1| having pin extensions 14 held in proper axial positionby collars 11 being mounted on the door cover l2 by palm 12, any axialmovement of the piston 8| will cause a corresponding rotation of thedoor |2 either to open or to close with respect to the door frame H, theaction of lug 61 in groove 13 being that of a closed cam.

As will be seen in Fig. 15, a valve of the type shown having a housing85 and rotary plug or baflle member 86 can be connected in a hydraulicpressure system so that pressure can be applied selectively to any twopipes and simultaneously and automatically open two other ports to therelief or receiving tank.

Valve housing 85 may have port 81 connected to a relief valve orreceiving tank into which the oil not under operating pressure isexhausted, port 88 may be connected through pipe 19 to cylinder 82, port89 may be connected to pipe 83 or pipe 34, port 90 may be connectedthrough a pipe not shown to a source of oil pressure such as a tank orpump, port 9| may be connected through pipe I! to cylinder 32, and port92 through pipe 94 or pipe 38 to cylinder 30.

With this arrangement, if plug 06 is centered on an axis between ports11 and I8, as shown 10 in Fig. 15, the oil pressure will be applied topistons ll of Fig. 11 or of "Fig. 3 in a manner to release the dogs, andto piston ll in a manner to swing the door or hatch open. If plug 86 iscentered on an axis between "ports 88 and 89, the oil will flow throughport ll and pipe 18, moving piston ll downward in Fig. 13, causing thedoor or hatch to close, exhaust taking place through pipe 19 and ports88 and I1; meanwhile the pressure exerted through port I! and throughpipe go 93 or pipe 34 will keep the dogs on the door or hatch in thefreed position. With plug 88 centered between ports .9 and 90, the oilpressure through ports 90 and 9| will keep the door orhatch closed,while the oil flow through port 92 and pipe 94 or pipe 38 will cause thedogs to be set, exhaust taking place through pipe 93 or pipe N, andthrough ports I! and 81.

In the specification and claims the term "door" covers both a. doorthrough a bulkhead or a hatch or other closure member through a deck,and, likewise the term "bulkhead covers not only a vertical bulkhead butany other member such as a deck in which an openable closure member maybe placed.

Other modifications and changes in the proportions and arrangements ofthe parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe nature of the invention, within the scope of what is hereinafterclaimed.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and/or used by or forthe Government of the United States of America for governmental purposeswithout the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, whatis claimed is:

1. For use in holding a water-tight bulkhead I door in locked positionor for releasing the door from locked position from either sideof thebulkhead, a plurality of hydraulically actuated doorholding ordoor-releasing dogs mounted on the bulkhead, a pair of hydraulicpressure lines connected to each of the hydraulically actuated dogs, andmeans for applying pressure to either one of the hydraulic pressurelines and releasing it from the other of the hydraulic lines to actuatesaid dogs simultaneously, said pressure-applying means comprising apressure pump mounted in the bulkhead for actuation from either sidethereof.

2. For use in holding a water-tight bulkhead door in locked position orfor releasing the door from locked position from either side of thebulkhead, a plurality of hydraulically actuated doorholding ordoor-releasing dogs mounted on the bulkhead, a pair of hydraulicpressure lines connected to each of the hydraulically actuated dogs,means for applying pressure to either one of the hydraulic pressurelines and releasing it from the other of the hydraulic lines to actuatesaid dogs simultaneously, said pressure-applying means comprising apressure pump mounted in the bulkhead for actuation from either sidethereof, said pressure pump being a gear pump including a pair of gears,each gear having a shaft keyed thereto, one shaft extending to one sideof the bulkhead and the other shaft extending to the other side of thebulkhead, and handle means mounted on each shaft, whereby said dogs maybe actuated by operation of the gear pump handle on either side of thebulkhead.

ALVA B. COURT. GEORGE H. OOPENHAVER. JOHN I'LODIN.

